The technique has been perfected during the coronavirus lockdown
Arena Television and Dock10 have revealed their use of a remote gallery for the delivery of the FA Cup final on 1 August.
First used during the fourth round of the competition back in February, the jointly-developed technology has been refined in use during the Covid-19 lockdown since then. It allows for the BBC Sport production team to be based remotely at Media City in Salford with a reduced crew and kit sent to the socially-distanced match at Wembley Stadium.
Director of operations at Arena, Peter Love, said: “We started this innovative collaboration with dock10 back in 2019 to help develop a new solution of remote galleries for live sport following the demand from the industry for a reduction in travel to multiple locations.”
“Now in an environment of COVID-19 our new workflow has enabled us to deliver the games for the FA Cup, including the prestigious final, with a reduced crew on site and enabling safe working during this global crisis.”
Andy Waters, head of studios at Dock10, added: “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated new workflows right across the broadcast industry. We have spent a couple of years now testing and developing a new solution that would change the way sport is delivered to our screens. When it was announced that football could return to television, we knew that we had already successfully delivered a safe remote solution for the FA Cup and could roll this out to a wide range of sporting events. It was a real honour to deliver the FA Cup Final.”
The match itself saw a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang-inspired Arsenal come from behind to defeat Chelsea 2-1. A late red card for the Blues’ Mateo Kovacic only added to their woes on the day.